Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Digital Writing

Today our class had a change around in timetables with Mrs Wood teaching in the morning and Mrs Marshall teaching in the afternoon.  Mrs Marshall decided to do some writing using the computers.  The children had to design an animal by switching different animal body parts around to form a new animal and then the children had to describe their new animal and tell the reader what they could do.  These are some of their creations


By Katie and Brylie






By Kayla



Monday, November 28, 2011

Alien Map Game

How well do you know your way around the world???  Try this fun alien map game and find out.

Alien Map Game

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Children Should be Allowed to Cook - By Marcel

Well I think it is a stupid idea not letting children cook because it is fun.  I can make toast because I am 8 and if you think that is a bad age to start cooking well I don't think so!  I have baked cookies with my mum and my sister and it is really fun!  Oh, I forgot to tell you we made some cookies and I didn't get hurt from anything.  It is really fun because I can and everybody can learn new skills.  It is fun having a good time with your family.  Me and my mum have fun in the kitchen making food and also making treats for my dad.  When he comes back from Wellington we make pancakes.  It is fun and we have a good time.  I really think it is a stupid idea and I really do not like it.  

All Aboard!! Listen to Our Fabulous Music

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Our Butterfly Garden - By Sakina


Yesterday near room one, we were planting a butterfly garden.  It was exciting.  First we dug a big hole and then we put the flowers in the big hole.  It was very windy and cold; it was so icy cold. It was so icy cold that I was shivering.  We used digging tools to dig a hole.  Out garden was a butterfly shape.  


Planting a Butterfly on PhotoPeach

Planting in the Garden - By Zane


That swimming for one week twice a year is not enough for children to make large shifts in their swimming.  Also suggests that parents need to provide swimming opportunities for children if they really want their child to learn to swim.  For some children however, this is the only chance for instruction.  We believe this is a fabulous programme and see significant progress in terms of water confidence and swimming ability.  There appears to be a significant challenge for children transitioning from the junior programme run by different swimming providers – children appear to do better on their second set of swimming instruction because they are familiar with the programme. 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Dunedin Public Art Gallery Visit

Dunedin Public Art Gallery on PhotoPeach




Pop art is short for popular art which is cartoony.  Artists make things with their imagination.  They create things for us to make up a name for.  Today we made fruit.  We had some pictures of fruit that we had to copy.  When we were done we put black ink around them.  Then we took them to John and he dried them for us.  Afyer that a parent cut out the fruit while we did our backgrounds.  Then we glued them on and took them to school and put them on display.  
By Brylie

Pop Art - by Room 9

Pop Art by Room 9 on PhotoPeach



Our Knowledge of Colour Impacts Our World
By Katie
We did pop art of fruit in a fruit bowl on a tablecloth.

First, we drew some fruit and inked them to make them look more cartoony.

We cut out the fruit and started designing the background next. The background of was a tablecloth, so we designed the pattern of it. We used stencils and drew the pattern with a black vivid. I had a swirly shape coloured in red.

We dyed the rest of the background. I dyed mine green because red and green are contrasting colours. (That’s why Christmas colours are red and green).

Mr Neumegen hot-glue gunned the fruit onto the fruit bowl and we were done with our pop art.

Our knowledge of colour helped us to create an artwork that contrasted well and had colours that work together to make a bold, bright piece of art.

People Use Colour
By Samantha

People use colour in lots of ways, but today we used it for cartoon pop art. I learnt that the background needs to have bright colours so it stands out a lot, and it looks attractive. I also learnt that you need a different kind of dye over the background pattern otherwise it won’t stand out as much.

When I look at Room 9’s artwork, I think people will like to see the way we used colour.

People Use Colour
By Maddie
People use colour when they create pop art. Pop art stands for “popular art”.

When Room 9 went to the Art Gallery, we did a special type of art called pop art. We used colour on the tablecloth part by using one colour for the shapes and another colour for the background.

Some of us used complimentary colours and some of us used contrasting colours.  I think Room 9 used colour well to make our pop art stand out well. I enjoyed it.

People Respond to Colour
By Lil

Pop art paintings take things that are almost real looking, but then they make it look like cartoons. In pop art, you can do anything you want and make it look crazy. For example, you could make your skin orange or green or purple or blue.

Our paintings were about fruit. We drew all sorts of fruit and made patterns in our backgrounds. After that, we dyed over our patterns.

The colour I picked for my dye was yellow, because I had only used that colour once, so I thought it would make it stand out. People said my art looks good, and I think the yellow helps them think that.




People Use Colour
By Nancy

Room 9 went to the Art Gallery and we made a very popular kind of art called pop art.

I used different colours for my fruit. My background was green because I thought it might stand out…and it did!


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Co-operative Sports Day - by Samantha

Yesterday we had co-operative sports day. It was totally awesome. Before we left to go and line up on the court we had to get numbers on our hands so we knew what number to line up on. Mrs Munro had number 14’s group which was the winner. I was in number 14. Mrs Munro’s activity was the water race. The water was in one bucket and you had to transfer the water to another bucket without spilling it. The next activity was the long jump and Mrs Stevenson was running it. Last year when I did it, I did smaller jumps but this time I did humungous jumps. It was totally awesome. I loved being with my friends.
Co-operative Sports Day on PhotoPeach

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Our class is beginning to set up a very small garden as part of our learning about colour.  The Grasshoppers writing group have written some lovely recounts about it.  Please feel free to give them lots of positive comments!
The Garden - By Jimmy
Yesterday room 9 went to look at the garden.  The garden is near the juniors play ground.  We didn't see many bulbs.  There was only 1 bulb.  We dug weeds out of the garden.  After that we saw stinging nettle.  If we touch the stinging nettle we will feel our arm bubble.  The white part is the stinging part of it.  Also we will put some new flowers in.  The thing that we used to dig was a trowel and we took a turn of using it.  We used a digging stick which is my favourite.  


Our Garden on PhotoPeach

Colour My World - By Katie

Our class has been learning about colour as part of our inquiry. We have gathered lots information along the way and have sorted this information to align with our key understandings about colour and our world.  We decided to present what we have learnt by making Powerpoint presentations.  

Thursday, November 3, 2011

All Children Between 7 & 9 Years Old Should Not Be In Bed By 6.30 p.m. By Shanaye

Our class has been learning how to write an argument.  Mrs Wood has posed some statements and we have had to decide if we agree or disagree.  These are our first efforts at this genre.  


Children should not go to bed at 6.30 p.m. because if they did I wouldn't get to watch t.v. or eat dinner.  I have to watch t.v. because I can't get to sleep without it.  When I go to bed it would be too light.  if I went to bed I couldn't get to sleep and would be able to hear my friends next door.  My friends would probably call me and my mum would tell them that I was in bed.  Mr friends would laugh and that would be embarrassing.  If I went to bed at 6.30 p.m. I would probably wake up in the middle of the night not tired.  My mum would tell me to go back to sleep and I would cry.  When my mum is in bed I'll have to pretend I'm asleep.  My mum wouldn't see me if I slid on my tummy across to the lounge.  I would have to put my headphone on if I went on the computer.  If I wanted to watch t.v. the t.v. would have to be down quiet.  I think children aged 7 and 9 years old shouldn't be in bed at 6.30 p.m. because it sounds silly.
By Shanaye

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Our Sunflower Diary - by Room 9 Writers

Sunflower Diary Day 6 on PhotoPeach



Awesome Sunflowers on PhotoPeach



Day 1:  Room 9 were planting sunflowers and we talked about not to put our head over the soil mis so we do not get sick.  We also have to put the soil in some egg containers.  When we finished that, we put our seeds over by the sink.  The sunflowers should grow bigger than our class.  After all those steps we put newspaper over it and then we have to wait for them to grow.  We really have to wait for 5 or 10 days.  It is sad because they will only last for a year.  But well that's okay because we will have them right now.  - photos and writing by Kayla and Hamish

Saturday, October 29, 2011

How to plant a Sunflower - by Wesley

Our class arrived back at school on Monday after a lovely 2 week holiday.  As part of our Inquiry learning about 'colour', we planted sunflower seeds.  We will tell you more later as to why we did this, but in the meantime here are some instructions on how to plant a sunflower in case you would like to do it.


What you will need:

  • a section of an egg carton by cutting is with scissors
  • seed mixture
  • gloves (plastic)
  • water in a spray bottle
  • one sheet of newspaper
Instructions:
  1. Put plastic gloves on your hands
  2. Cut a section of the egg carton
  3. Fill the egg carton with seed mixture
  4. Poke a shallow hole in the seed mixture and put the seed in
  5. Cover the hole with seed mixture - just enough to cover the seed
  6. Water the seed with spray bottle with water inside
  7. Cover the egg carton with the seed mixture and with newspaper.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Why Pandas are Black and White - by Bee

In Australia there was a zoo with a bright orange panda.  A zoo keeper came to feed the panda some food.  Then the zookeeper walked out.  The zoo keeper forgot to close the cate. The panda walked out of the cage.  The orange panda travelled 50 metres to the chocolate factory.  The panda thought that it was a bamboo factory but it wasn’t.  It was a chocolate factory.  He wandered in.  The orange panda saw a humungous pot of chocolate.  It was 4 metres tall and the panda was only 2 metres tall.  He reached up and jumped up.  Splash!  He fell in as chocolate went all over the walls and floor.  He quickly jumped out.  Chocolate dropped onto the floor.  He ran all the way back to the zoo and he was a happy black and white panda. 

Nowadays when you visit a zoo, you might see a black and white panda.  

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Birds Up the Trees by Sakina

It is the school holidays at the moment but it's great to see that Sakina is still writing.  She was at home looking at the birds and then decided to write a poem about what she saw.  If you get a chance, please write a comment to encourage Sakina in her writing.


Birds up the trees - a poem by Sakina 

Birds birds up in the trees flying everywhere
Wish you can make me fly
If you did I can be up in the sky
And see houses and grass and trees from up the sky
When I’m up in the sky it would make my day wonderful.
                       

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Irish Rugby Team Visit - By Nick


On Friday Room 9 went to the hall very quietly.  We waited and waited for the Irish team to come.  Finally they came but only four of them came.  “Hey look!  There’s Obrien!  Wow he’s my favourite player in the Irish team.”  When they sat on the chairs some of the boys did the haka.  I was in the haka.  Crash-boom the boys went crazy.  Argh!!  The haka was finally finished.  Yay.  A miracle – I just did the haka to the Irish team.  When they left the bell rang for 3 p.m.  

Middle Team Production by Billy

Yesterday room 9 went to the PAC centre to practice for the middle team production.  We had to put our costumes on at our houses.  We had to get our face painted in the green room.  Then it was time to go to the stage and start.  When I got on the stage, I went, “wow, look at all of the people in the PAC centre.”  I was paranoid of the audience.  The whole middle team had to sing three songs.  They were Sunbeams Black and White, Mellow Yellow and I Like the Greens.  When it was finished we had to show Mrs Wood our mum so we could get a lollipop and go.

Strike Percussion Group - By Katie


The noise was ear piercing but on the other hand sensational.  “thump, thumpty, thump,” crashed the drums.  Vibrations rattled through my ears as the band ‘Strike’ crashed on the drums.  I was sure that soon the drums would give way and fall to pieces.  Phew, they stopped.  “This is the world’s best rock band,” I whispered to Maddie.